A brief prehistory of time:
15Bya - Universe Forms
4.6Bya - Solar system forms
4.5Bya - Earth's crust forms
Firsts
3800MY: oldest rocks
800MY : 1st red algae
700 MY: 1st animals
500 MY: 1st land plants
350 MY: 1st reptiles
200 MY: 1st dinosaurs
Eras/periods
Precambrian Era, 4550 - 550MY
Paleozoic Era (570MY-251MY)
Periods in Paleozoic:
Cambrian, 550-505MY - first jawless fishes
Ordovician, 505-438MY - more jawless fishes
Silurian, 438-408MY - 1st ray finned/lobed fish
Devonian, 408-360MY - fish dominant, 1st amphibians
Carboniferous, 360-286MY - amphibians and fish
-
Mississippian period, 360-322MY
-
Pennsylvanian period, 322-286MY
Permian 286-248MY - amphibians dominant, 1st mammal-like reptiles,
pangaea forms
Extinction Event 251MY - all
trilobites extinct
Mesozoic Era (251MY-65MY) - "Age of reptiles"
Periods in Mesozoic:
Triassic, 251-225MY - reptiles, 1st dinosaurs
Jurassic, 213-144MY - dinosaurs dominant, first mammals, birds
Cretaceous, 144-65MY - dinosaurs dominant, small mammals, birds, T. Rex 75MY
Extinction Event 65MY - K-T extinction kills dinosaurs
Cenozoic Era (65MY-present) - "Age of mammals"
Periods in Cenozoic:
Tertiary, 65-2MY
Epochs in Tertiary:
Paleocene, 65-54MY
Eocene, 54-38MY
Oligocene, 38-26MY
Miocene, 26-7MY
Pliocene, 7-2MY
Quaternary, 2MY-present
Epochs in Quaternary:
Pleistocene, 2MY-10000Y
Holocene, 10000Y-present
Extinction Event - Current day